Learn the best recipie, temperature and time to cook the best salmon ever

How to find the finest ingredients, determine the correct salmon cook time and temperature and then pairing it with the right wine

Know your Salmon

Coho

Chinook/King

Mild, with a slightly sweet flavor; with a firm yet tender texture. It's less oily than other salmon varieties, making it delicate and ideal for grilling, baking, or smoking.

Chinook/King

Rich, buttery flavor with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. This is due to its high oil content, which is higher than other types of salmon. It is also known for its firm, flaky flesh.

Sockeye/Reds

Chinook/King

Sockeye/Reds

Rich, robust, with a distinct savory flavor; firmer, denser texture compared to other salmon varieties. It has a deep red flesh and a high oil content, making it ideal for grilling, broiling.

Chum

Atlantic/Scottish

Sockeye/Reds

Mild, somewhat bland flavor with a lean, firm texture; its lower fat content makes it less rich than other salmon types and it is often used for smoking or canning.

Pink

Atlantic/Scottish

Delicate, mild flavor with a soft, light texture; it's leaner and less firm than other salmon, making it good for light preparations like poaching and salads or canning .

Atlantic/Scottish

Mild, buttery flavor with a rich, slightly oily texture; its flesh is tender and moist, making it a very versatile species that works well with grilling, baking, or pan-searing.

Masu

Amago

Is found only in Asia, and has a delicate, slightly sweet flavor with a soft, tender texture. It’s less fatty than other salmon species, making it light and ideal for grilling, poaching, or enjoying raw in sushi or sashimi.

Amago

Also only found in Asia, it has a mild, subtly sweet flavor with a firm yet tender texture. Its lean flesh is less oily than other salmon, making it well-suited for grilling, baking, or serving raw in sushi and sashimi.

HOW TO BUY GREAT SALMON

Get fresh salmon - if you can find it

The best is always to get your fish out of the river or sea yourself, but if you don't have a rod or a river, the next best thing is paying a visit to a high quality seafood counter.

Buy line caught - not farmed

IMHO, wild is by far the most flavorful and has the best texture.

Picking the perfect cut

Go to your nearest fishmonger and ask what the freshest salmon in the case is. Be specific, and ask when it came in. This immediately lets the monger know that you are a shrewd customer. If the response is more than 2 days be sure to ask to smell it before you buy.

I personally prefer the tail section on a fillet as generally there will be less bones to pull (IMHO the only thing worse than tweezing fish bones is getting one stuck in your throat).

Salmon steaks are great and thicker fillets from the main body are good too but for My Best Salmon we will assume that you found some fresh tail fillets - maybe .75 to 1 lb each (depending on how hungry you are or how many people you are serving).

Frozen Salmon

Frozen salmon is a fall back if fresh is not available. Especially if you know how it was processed. I've been on several trips to AK when the reds were running up the Kenai (mid-June thru August) and have had many fillets vaccume packed flash frozen and shipped home. If you can't take one of those epic trips to get your own frozen supply there are a variety of small seafood companies that specialize in moving freshly caught Alaska salmon, halibut, crab, etc. One of my favorites is the Kenai-Red Fish Company. These fish subscription services have been growing in popularity over the past few years and recently Forbes Health has actually reviewed and ranked the majority of them.

Cooking Salmon to perfection

Seasoning your salmon fillet

After rinsing, pat dry with a paper towel and lightly salt each fillet with a little kosher salt.

You may then choose to add some additional seasoning to your fillets.

Mesquite
Blackened Spice
Dill and Thyme
Smoked Parika
Lemmon Zest or
Just a Little Pepper

I personally love a light dusting of either mesquite or blackened spice (if I'm making a blackened salmon Caesar salad). Be sure not to over do it, as you want the rub to compliment and not cover up that great salmon flavor.

Cooking methods

Salmon comes out great no matter what cooing method you choose. Some types of salmon are better with specific cooking methods than others.

Grilling
Frying
Baking
Poaching
Air Fryer

The only methods I have not tried are sous vide and steaming.

For My Best Salmon I prefer the grill. I am a Big Green Egg fan, but I am also lazy. As such, if it is a dinner party I'll go with the egg, but if it is Tuesday night with just me the wife and the dog, its the propane grill. I live on the beach so corrosion is a way of life here. Magma is my propane grill of choice.

Let it rest

In all likelihood your fish came out of the refrigerator so cover it with some foil and let it marry with your seasoning of choice, until it comes up to room temperature (usually about 30 minutes).

Honey Butter

Honey butter is quick and easy to make - you just need to remember to pull some butter out of the refrigerator when you remove the fish and leave it out so it softens.

1/2 Cup unsalted butter
3 Tbs of honey
1 pinch of high quality salt

Mix together with a fork before you go start the grill. If it is a bit thick just microwave briefly to make it easily spreadable / "bastable".

Cooking Temperature

What temperature should you use to cook your beautiful salmon to perfection? The truth is that you can pick any temperature you like as long as the combination of cooking temperature, thickness, initial temperature of the fillet and cook time unite to produce an internal temperature of 145 F.

Next to selecting a great salmon fillet the cooking time and corresponding temperature are them most important variables to manage. Cooking at lower temperatures takes longer time, but will help to maintain texture and flavor nuances. I use 450 F for baking in an oven and 375 F for every other method.

Cooking Time

Now that we know the correct temperature to use for cooking our salmon, we need to either

carefully watch it as it cooks to note the moment it begins to flake and pull apart,
use a thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the thickest part of the fillet or
use the "Ten Minute Rule".

The Ten Minute Rule is an old Canadian rule of thumb for cooking fish and suggests that you need to cook the fish ten minutes for every inch of thickness. Measuring the salmon fillet at the thickest point.

This Ten Minute Rule works amazing well provided you can measure your fillet's thickness. After years of eyeballing a ruler or using a measuring tape, I came across a great little gadget (Fishtastic) that quickly and easily converts fish thickness into cook time for the salmon. Best kitchen gadget EVER!

Cooking salmon to perfection

Spray the grill grate with olive oil to ensure you minimize the potential for sticking to the grate when it comes time to flip.
Light the grill and let it heat up to 375 F.
Measure the fillet(s) at their thickest parts. Convert the thickness into minutes using the Ten Minute Rule.
Place the fillets onto the grill skin side down.
After half the cook time has elapsed flip the pieces over and let cook for the remainder of the time.
Remove from the grill and baste with honey butter.
Serve immediately.

What if the fillets are different thicknesses?

If you are only cooking two pieces of fish with differing thickness it is easy to determine how to lag the salmon cook time for the thinner piece:

Measure each fillet and convert to thickness to minutes.
Subtract the time and remember the difference, this is the lag time.
Put the thickest piece onto the cooking device.
When the lag time has elapsed add the thiner piece of salmon.
When half the cook time of the thickest pieces has elapsed flip both pieces
Cook for the remaining time.
Remove, baste with honey butter and serve.

If you have more than two pieces of fish to cook:

Measure each piece at its thickest part.
Convert all thickness into minutes.
Average the minutes.
Flip all pieces when half of the avarge time has elapsed.
Cook for the remainder of the average time.
Remove, baste with honey butter and serve.

What wine pairs best with My Best Salmon?

Wine is a complex and highly subjective topic.

There are 2 broad rules to follow:

Champagne pairs with virtually everything
Heavy reds (cabernet, malbec, syrah, etc.) don't work well with salmon

A general method is to correlate the rub or sauce

Best for Grilled Salmon: Pinot Noir / Light Merlot
Best for Salmon Dishes with Butter or Creamy Sauces: Chardonnay
Best for Herb-Crusted Salmon: Sauvignon Blanc
Best for Salmon with Dill Sauce: Pinot Gris
Best for Pouched or Steamed Salmon: Rosé

My personal favorite is pairing My Best Salmon with a Mineral Springs Pinot from Soter Vineyards, Yum!

Learn the best recipie, temperature and time to cook the best salmon ever

What we believe in

Our Mantra

Our Mission

Know your Salmon

Coho

Chinook/King

Chinook/King

Chinook/King

Chinook/King

Chinook/King

Sockeye/Reds

Chinook/King

Sockeye/Reds

Chum

Atlantic/Scottish

Sockeye/Reds

Pink

Atlantic/Scottish

Atlantic/Scottish

Atlantic/Scottish

Atlantic/Scottish

Atlantic/Scottish

Masu

Amago

Amago

Amago

Amago

Amago

HOW TO BUY GREAT SALMON

Get fresh salmon - if you can find it

Buy line caught - not farmed

Picking the perfect cut

Frozen Salmon

Cooking Salmon to perfection

Seasoning your salmon fillet

Cooking methods

Let it rest

Honey Butter

Cooking Temperature

Cooking Time

Cooking salmon to perfection

What if the fillets are different thicknesses?

What wine pairs best with My Best Salmon?

Contact Us

Well, that is how I go about making My Best Salmon - please feel free to drop us a line and give us some feedback on how your salmon cooking adventures unfold! Let me know what salmon cooking times and cooking temperatures you use for your favorite salmon recipes use and why.

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